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The Host of Heroes
Landing Bay - Hancock Station - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This incredible chamber sports almost a square mile of poured plascrete, all watched over by a high communications tower precisely centered in the immense floor. Centered in the rock ceiling of this chamber is a field of lightly buzzing blue energy, allowing ships in and out with a minimum of atmosphere loss. Cheery lighting fixtures line the walls, in stark contrast to the otherwise utilitarian nature of the bay. A set of tall steel double doors provide access to the rest of Hancock Station, dwarfed by the great ship-sized hatches in the rock walls that allow entrance to the station's dry dock and shuttle pad. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sun Dec 21 21:26:27 3008 Aadzrian quietly strolls down the Iuppiter's ramp, a thoughtful expression on a face that bears faint sign of past tears. His hands are in his pockets, and he seems to be moving aimlessly toward the Streak. Ace is coming the opposite way from the lobby, looking grim as usual these days. That expression turns to concern though as she spots her first officer. "Aadzrian? What is wrong?" she asks, hurrying her pace towards the man. "Hm?" Aadzrian startles out of his distraction, at both Ace's approach and the familiar beeping of his PDA. The Timonae pulls it out, staring at the message on the screen with an unfathomable expression for a long moment before he types a reply. "...hey, Ace. Checked your mail?" Ace nods as she moves to give Aadz a hug, "Da, but that does not explain why you look as if you have been crying..." Aadzrian shakes his head slightly, moving to return the embrace. "I... I went and I talked to Tir. He made me promise a while ago that if... I became a Kamir I'd go back to him for just one more night before everything went to hell. But he... flinched away, he didn't want to touch me, he said he didn't want me to keep that promise anymore, so I left. I'm fine." "Oh," Ace says with a troubled frown, "Was that him?" she nods to the PDA. "Yes. He's changed his mind. I'll have to go see him tomorrow instead." Aadzrian exhales, looking to meet Ace's gaze. "Anyway. I've written an appeal to the Kamiroids. I wanted to run it by you and then send it to INN in hopes they'd publish it. Morden did say some... few non-Kamiroids were eligible, but primarily he wanted us." "Us?" Ace replies, "Who do you mean by 'us?'" "Kamiroids. ...I'm going." Aadzrian smiles just a little, his shrug uncomfortable. "Doubt they will take me," Ace says quietly, "But I am going as well." "If there's anyone who's likely to be an eligible non-Kamiroid, it's you." Aadzrian laughs low in his throat. "...we did say dying at the same time might work out for us, right?" "Da," Ace smiles in return, a bit wanly, "But they have told me that I am not fixable. Still, have to try, da?" Aadzrian fumbles his PDA back into his hand, typing another message before opening up a document and wordlessly showing it to Ace. The message... "My name is Aadzrian Axbovi, first officer of the Laughing Fox. My brothers and sisters of Kamiroid descent, I call to you now because the universe needs us as never before. ''Earlier today, Morden'kamir appeared once more. As the latest rift has shown, the damage done to the integrity of our universe is far greater than anticipated, and it extends not only through space but also through time. The only way that anybody currently living in this universe can be saved is through a massive joint effort of the Kamir to teleport refugees to a stabler location in space-time. However, the Kamir lack the numbers necessary for such an epic feat, by a number in the neighborhood of five thousand- and this is where we come in. Morden'kamir has summoned all Kamiroids, all who dare, to travel to Nocturn within the week for training. And so we are presented a choice between courage and cowardice, between salvation and destruction, with implications that dwarf any choice we have ever made. The task will not be easy; many of us may lose our lives, and those who do survive will never be free of this duty, our remaining years and strength dedicated to the repair of our universe. But if five thousand can be found who are willing to do, are willing to dare, we can save uncounted lives- thousand upon thousand upon thousand. '' ''A week's time will see me on Nocturn. I hope and pray that I will not stand alone, but instead as one man among a host of heroes." Ace stands near the Streak, reading over something on a PDA with a nod, "With hope, you will get enough, da. If this is what it takes to get them there safely, then da, am with you, tovarisch." "I'm not so good with words," Aadzrian says quietly, shaking his head. "Do you think anyone'll listen...?" He's holding that PDA up for Ace, looking exhausted and rumpled. The perceptive might notice the brown shading in his green eyes that suggests past tears. Kit slips out of the Kamikaze, a box of tools in one hand as, atypically, she does not give the bay her usual assessive sweep of the eyes. Instead, she hops down from the ramp partway, walking into the ship's shadow to examine its belly critically, before finally setting down the box and only then taking in who else might be present. Ace hands the PDA back, "Is well written, da, but cannot say if anyone will listen to you any more than they listen to me," she sighs. "Your message is out there, Ace. Somebody... they finally listened," Aadzrian remarks softly. "Maybe they'll listen to me, too. The universe is, for once, weirder than us." He flashes a brief but bright smile, beginning to edit. "Guess I'll... send it out." Kit tilts her head as she spots Ace and Aadzrian near the newly-arrived Silver Streak. After noting the ship's name and then glancing down toward the tools she had brought out, she abandons them for the moment to approach the two Foxes instead. "Da," Ace says, "And will pray that enough come to respond." She looks up as Kit approaches, offering the woman a nod, "Privet and spaciba for your help." Aadzrian slips the PDA into his pocket, exhaling. His attention turns to Kit as she approaches, and he dredges up a smile and a wave. "I will be praying," the Timonae murmurs to his kapitan in his native language. Kit gives a one-shouldered shrug. "It probably took me less time than it took you to write your article," she answers Ace, tacking on a sideways nod toward Aadzrian at the wave. "Have there been any new developments since then?" Aadzrian is standing with Ace and Kit near the Streak, the Timonae looking disheveled, tired and more than a little bit worn down. "Uh, yes, you could say are new develop-ments..." He hesitates a moment. "...Morden need five t'ousand Kamir to save te uny-verse." Ace nods, "Do not know if it is so much save it as delay the inevitable and help others to escape." Kit simply blinks at the Timonae, a long pause preceding, "Setting aside the question of where to find five thousand Kamir for the moment, but to *save* the - ?" She stops mid-sentence at Ace's addition, and after a skeptical grimace, nods. "That I might believe, but how does one evacuate a universe? Or choose who gets evacuated." A more assessive look is cast the Timonae's way, and she asks frankly, "Is that part of the reason for your current appearance?" Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters! Or in this case, random Kamiroids. One such fellows makes his entrance into the landing bay, his natural and artificial eyes looking around for something. Sourisan seems to find it in the form of Aadzrian, Ace and Kit, whom he heads towards with a quick stride. Lifting his PDA slightly, he tilts his head as he approaches. Eucharius has, over the past half-hour or so, just about finished a walk around the edge of the landing bay. He comes to a stop not too far from Ace, Kit, and Aadz, takes a breath and a long look around the bay, and heads that direction. "Yes. Part of te reason." Aadzrian pauses a moment, not commenting on the rest. "I am exaggerate jus' a little, but where are we finding five t'ousand Kamir? We got to make five t'ousand Kamir. And man, I got a lot of friends in te galaxy, but I no got five t'ousand." Seraph arrives with his entire black clothing and his hooded head, then he walks near Aadzrian and asks. "Looking for me?" then he grins. Ace lifts an eyebrow as she looks to Aadzrian, "Looks like a good start," she says quietly. Kit's mouth tightens pensively, a distinct air of discomfort in the shift of her weight as she considers Aadzrian. "How does one *make* a Kamir, or were you being facetious?" she asks warily, glancing up with a frown at Seraph's self-introduction. Eucharius nears the other four and clears his throat. "You'd be Aadzrian Axbovi, wouldn't you?" he says. "I must confess to being rather curious about that myself," Sourisan comments as he joins the steadily growing little group, offering nods to Ace and Aadzrian. "Good to see you again, Captain Ace. Aadzrian." Aadzrian lifts an eyebrow as he meets Ace's gaze, a bemused smile slowly curling his lips. "Some-how... yes." The Timonae turns to the new arrivals, clearing his throat. "Um. Yes. I am Aadzrian Axbovi. I t'ink I can assume al of you here about te message, yes? I mus' warning you, t'is is no fun and games. Any-body who choose to go to Noc-turn wil eit'er die in re-locating refugees to safe plase, or spend an entire life working to fix fabric of space-time. No free-dom any-more, if you even sur-vive. But t'ose who are willing to do t'is... we go to Nocturn for training, and te Kamir wil do te rest." Seraph grins, then he says "This is my destiny, like my father once did, I will do, like my mother predicted the time has come to me ascend and make my name true." He smiles, a creepy smile, his eyes shine while he speaks. "Some things need to be done," says Eucharius, shrugging. "Nothing else needs to be said." Kit's gaze widens as Aadzrian relates the mission, and she glances between those gathered and the Fox's first mate before shaking her head once in mute disbelief. "Are there assurances that it can even be done? These...repairs." "You traveled with Innokentevna and you have to ask that question?" Ace asks Kit, that eyebrow lifting again. "Is Kamir devices that can turn humans to Kamir. Cannot imagine it is harder to turn Kamiroids into full Kamir." Sourisan looks from Eucharius to Seraph with a slight twitch of his lips and a sardonic look in his violet eye, "Really now, it is a simple matter of arithmetic. A...question of odds, really. If your information is correct...then if we help the Kamir, yes, we may die. Yet if we do -not- help the Kamir, we are sure to die. Mathematics may not be my speciality, but I believe 'probably death' is preferable to 'certain death', neh?" "As for te repairs- if Kamir can break it, Kamir can pro-babble fix it. Morden has say it can be done," Aadzrian relates to Kit, "but it wil no be easy, or quick. Wil be a life-time's work. Many life-times work... is why we pro-babble need five t'ousand of us, huh?" He cracks a weary grin. "And no, Sourisan. You could be one of te refugees te Kamir wil safely trans-port to new plase. Safely trans-port *if* we get five t'ousand people in a week. Righ' now, if you t'ree come, we have.... Six." "How many did you have fifteen minutes ago?" the Mystic asks, raising an eyebrow. "Considering the number of Timonae in the galaxy, I can't see fewer than five thousand being self-interested enough to do the math like him." With his thumb, Eucharius points sideways at Sourisan. Seraph grins, then he says "I know where to get many needed Kamirs, my father group beyond the nexus, they are powerfull, and are much probable intersted in helping Mordecai on this holy quest." Then he look at the Mystic, and ponders. "You know it too, not?" "True, but I would feel rather silly if I were sitting around waiting for rescue and realized you were one short, hm?" Sourisan lifts his shoulders, "I am not a gambling man, but since we are -forced- to make a wager here, with these...ultimately high stakes...I'd rather play the safe odds." The scarred Timonae nods his agreement with Eucharius, commenting dryly, "Quite...that is, if we can convince my species not to merely spend their last hours in wanton coitus. I believe it would be their preferred cause of death." "All I learned is that anything that has to do with them ends in trouble," Kit returns with a level look toward Ace before shaking her head, expression only tightening at Eucharius' words. "Timonae and Mystics, then?" She glances over her shoulder toward the Kamikaze before returning her attention to Aadzrian. "I think there are many things that are worse than simply dying, but there are some notable advantages to this mad scheme, if it works. I would appreciate a notice before you depart, if you have the time. Perhaps then, I will have found better words." She bows her head, stiffly, giving Ace a lighter nod in acknowledgment before she is turning sharply upon a heel to return to the Kamikaze. "I had t'ree, fif-teen minutes ago," Aadzrian confesses, his grin widening helplessly. "At t'is rate? We gonna have ten t'ousand, fif-teen t'ousand." Glancing to Ace, he tilts his head. "My kapitan, we got some plans to make. We gonna take t'ese guys to Nocturn on Fox?" Eucharius glances over at Sourisan. "You and I, we'll get along, I think," he says, half-smiling. To Aadz, he adds, "There you are, then." Seraph grins, then he says toward Kit "And Timonystics". Then he opens his eyes wide, like if he just said something that he do not meant to. Ace nods, "Da," she replies, "But should most likely stay here a bit longer to see how many responses you get, da?" She nods back to Kit, "Da svidaniya," she says quietly. Sourisan's cybernetic eye returns Eucharius's look, "If this works, it is possible we will be spending a truly long time together, so let us hope so." He inclines his head to Ace, "Thank you, Captain Ace. We will try not to be disruptive." Kit walks beneath the Kamikaze, where she had left the box of tools; crouching over it as she sorts out what she needs before stretching up to detach a panel in the ship's belly. As soon as the four-by-four square is swinging loose by a hinge, she is shoving the box onto a sill inside before hopping up to catch the edges; hauling herself inside with an easy swing of her legs. "We need to talked to people on Fox, huh?" Aadzrian muses, rubbing at his temples. "Asked t'em to bring Fox here? Morden sayed inter-stellar travel is safe now if you avoid te rift." Seraph looks at Aadzrian, then to Ace, then he says "I think that I will take a ride with you, you know, trying to teleport around is messy..." Sourisan turns to Aadzrian and inquires quietly, "Will Tirax be joining us, do you know?" "Da, can have Cathal bring her here immediately," Ace replies to Aadz, then nodding to Eucharius, "Will be coming with you...and do not think so, nyet," she says to Sourisan. "Doubt you will see Jaswinder either." Seraph frowns, then he look at everyone, and remove himself from the group, standing a bit away, observing with his keen eyes. Eucharius has nothing to say, simply standing and listening. "Tirax wil no be joining us, no," Aadzrian remarks very quietly, meeting Sourisan's gaze. "I am afraid I am no more your son-in-law. Al te more reason to change my way of life, huh?" He nods agreement with Ace, running a hand through his hair. Sourisan studies Aadzrian for a moment, nodding slightly, "I see. Well, a change of species might be a little extreme, but so be it." "Will probably not be so hard for kamiroids," Ace shrugs, "You are already halfway there, da?" Seraph keeps observing, he shrugs a bit, and look around a bit, then returns to his observation of the conversation about the destination of the universe. "I would have done t'is even if I were stil' married. It is te -righ' t'ing to do-, Sourisan." Aadzrian flashes the other Timonae a brief, wolfish grin. "No wonder I am divorsing, huh?" Gaze flicking between the faces of the others gathered, he suggests, "Cal your family and friends. Seeing who else wil go." He digs a hand into his pocket, pulling out his PDA. Whatever he sees on the screen wins a surprised blink and an unabashedly sentimental smile before he replies to it with a flurry of typing. "I guess I'll get in touch with my sister," Eucharius says, an uncommon note of tenderness creeping into his voice. He's back to crisp, businesslike form, though, with, "When should I be back here?" Sourisan allows himself a soft chuckle, "Yes, I daresay you were born for this sort of mission, Aadzrian." After a moment's reflection he shakes his head, "I do not think I know anyone who I would hold any sway over." "Two days," Ace says to the lot of them, "Be back here in two days and we will see about leaving then." "I'll be in touch," the Mystic says, nodding a goodbye and heading back for the lobby. Seraph also turns around and follows the other Mystic, then he says "Nice to see that I am not alone... But even better is to know that we will reunite with our kind." then he turns to other direction and walks away. "Two days." Aadzrian inhales slowly, and nods. "A lot to be taked care of in t'ese two days." He watches the two Mystics go in silence for a long moment, then adds more quietly for Ace, "I should... talk to you, I t'ink, be-fore we go." Sourisan takes the hint, adjusting his jacket and stepping away. "If you will both excuse me, I must give some thought to...how to use these last days myself." "Spaciba, Sourisan," Ace says with a nod and a gentle smile, looking back to Aadzrian, "So...let us go on board the Streak and talk, da?" "If you got the spare time, yeah," Aadzrian agrees softly, dropping back into Timonese and meeting Ace's smile with a quite serious gaze. "And the inclination to talk serious now." "Da," Ace says, leading the way, her grim mood returning, "Can talk serious if that is what you wish." Category: Classic OtherSpace Logs Category: The Ascendancy